Simultaneous achievement of large strain, low hysteresis, and high-temperature stability in textured BT-based piezoelectric ceramics

BaTiO₃ (BT)-based piezoceramics with large temperature-stable strains and low hysteresis are urgently needed for high-precision actuators because of increasing environmental problems. Here, tetragonal [001]_c-textured (Ba_0.98Ca_0.02)(Ti_0.96Sn_0.04)O₃ (BCTS) ceramics with a texture degree (F₀₀₁) of ~98% were obtained via the templated grain growth (TGG) method. A large maximum unipolar strain (S_max) of ~0.24% with a low strain hysteresis (H_s) of ~3.8% and an optimized piezoelectric strain coefficient (d₃₃*) of ~1124 pm·V⁻¹ are simultaneously achieved in the textured BCTS ceramics. Moreover, the variation in the strain response is less than 20% from room temperature (RT) to 100 °C for the textured ceramics. The underlying mechanism for the optimized strain performance could be attributed to the synergetic effect of the polarization extension and a fine domain structure. This work provides new insight for achieving a balance of multiple strain properties (large strain, low hysteresis, and high-temperature stability) in BT-based ceramics, showing the widespread application prospects of lead-free ceramics in high-precision actuators.